Spyderco Forums

Posted: **Mon Dec 06, 2021 7:57 pm**

emanuel wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 06, 2021 1:50 pm

bbturbodad wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 02, 2021 7:08 pm
they cut on ceramic plates, pans, etc.
A diamond edge would get blunt too on a diamond plate. It's just how physics works. If that type of cutting happens a lot, get some of those cheap steak knives with the crappy style of serration that KINDA work. For non-knife people, they're good enough and they can hack away.

Of course and I probably could have made my comment more clear. For the way my family and guests use kitchen knives I don't find the edge retention to be much better that the soft German steel knives that I leave out for them. I should have kept one separate for me to use to see how the edge holds up, or I guess I can keep one out of "family" rotation after the next sharpening, although when I first received them and used them to prepare a few meals, the geometry was not what I'm used to as I thin my kitchen knives and put asymmetrical and single bevel edges on most of my knives and I don't know if the ceramic will hold up with that type geometry that I'm accustomed to in "my" kitchen knives.

Posted: **Wed Dec 08, 2021 5:31 am**

I received mine too yesterday!

Two Shark M designs, one for testing and one for regular use.

I like the fit and finish overall, I just wish the handle material was less rubbery but that's just a personal thing after using micarta and G10 for so long. Good balance. In hand it kinda feels like a lighter Spyderco Pairing knife (K05BK). Both have ~1.5mm spines (I love thin knives), but this ceramic knife seems to be a better slicer overall due to its geometry (taller and thinner behind the edge) and its less sticky on the material you cut, fruit or meat. Sharpness was nice out of the box, no complaints for a factory edge. But after a 1 micron diamond spray on a piece of printer paper on a mouse pad, it really came to life. Followed Roman's advice here, LIGHT strokes, barely the weight of the knife. Freaky sharp after about 40 strokes, not one step behind my beloved PM2 in Rex 45.

After a whole afternoon of fidgeting with it I can say I'm really enjoying it. It feels really weird pushing a thin ceramic knife into dry beech wood and cutting notches, every time I pulled it out of the cut my brain told me there should be a chip or a crack but nothing of the sort happened. So far I can see the potential in this material. A blade that acts like a harder Rex121, while also being chemically inert and shares its same toughness? What more can we want in a slicer.. I can't wait for see what Sal decides, this would be amazing in a folder at some point. Instant buy.

P.S. The white "burr" on the edge is my skin after checking sharpness, edge is in perfect condition so far, probably not for long as I'll go hard on it in the next couple of days.

Posted: **Wed Dec 08, 2021 4:23 pm**

I believe we are making forward motion with them. They are working with us.

sal

Posted: **Wed Dec 08, 2021 5:25 pm**

If there is a Elastic Ceramic Mule I can't imagine how much interest/demand there would be.

Posted: **Wed Dec 08, 2021 6:30 pm**

sal wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 08, 2021 4:23 pm
I believe we are making forward motion with them. They are working with us.

sal

Rome was not built in a day. I’m glad to hear positive movement. Maybe the easiest folder would be a slip joint? Imagine how little weight FRN slip joint ceramic, Ti clip Spyderco would be.

Posted: **Wed Dec 08, 2021 6:38 pm**

emanuel wrote: ↑
Wed Dec 08, 2021 5:31 am
I received mine too yesterday! Two Shark M designs, one for testing and one for regular use.

I like the fit and finish overall, I just wish the handle material was less rubbery but that's just a personal thing after using micarta and G10 for so long. Good balance. In hand it kinda feels like a lighter Spyderco Pairing knife (K05BK). Both have ~1.5mm spines (I love thin knives), but this ceramic knife seems to be a better slicer overall due to its geometry (taller and thinner behind the edge) and its less sticky on the material you cut, fruit or meat. Sharpness was nice out of the box, no complaints for a factory edge. But after a 1 micron diamond spray on a piece of printer paper on a mouse pad, it really came to life. Followed Roman's advice here, LIGHT strokes, barely the weight of the knife. Freaky sharp after about 40 strokes, not one step behind my beloved PM2 in Rex 45.

After a whole afternoon of fidgeting with it I can say I'm really enjoying it. It feels really weird pushing a thin ceramic knife into dry beech wood and cutting notches, every time I pulled it out of the cut my brain told me there should be a chip or a crack but nothing of the sort happened. So far I can see the potential in this material. A blade that acts like a harder Rex121, while also being chemically inert and shares its same toughness? What more can we want in a slicer.. I can't wait for see what Sal decides, this would be amazing in a folder at some point. Instant buy.

P.S. The white "burr" on the edge is my skin after checking sharpness, edge is in perfect condition so far, probably not for long as I'll go hard on it in the next couple of days.

My personal torture test came with the same results in the toughness after lateral force on hard wood. I got some new diamond compound which I still have yet to put on this knife but I’m sure I’ll get similar results.

Posted: **Thu Dec 09, 2021 6:34 am**

Fireman wrote: ↑
Thu Dec 02, 2021 8:58 pm
I have two knife drawers. One for the family, one for me.

On my first glance I read "sock drawer"

So glad this idea is moving on. Hope we'll see something in the future.

Posted: **Sun Dec 19, 2021 3:12 am**

I did some more digging into what this ceramic actually is, and using the table downloaded from the producer's site, and a bit of translation/search, this is what I found out. It's something called Tetragonal Zirconia Polycrystal (TZP), which is zirconia (Zr02) reinforced with Yttria (Y2O3), which is what gives it its specific black color due to the crystalline structure change. A bit more info here

Roman was mentioning another high impact ceramic possibly available for knives, Alumina Toughened Zirconia (ATZ) which is slightly harder (Vickers 1350 for ATZ vs 1200 for TZP). It's a mixture of Alumina (Al203), from 0.X% to 30% (depeding on the ratio of toughness-hardness you want) in a matrix of Zirconia. This only comes in white color, as Roman mentioned. Found this for a bit more info.

Posted: **Sun Dec 19, 2021 3:05 pm**

I should get mine (barracuda) in the next few days. Looks like an amazing material. The sharpening video is interesting. I love sharpening, but have never attempted ceramic. I had a ceramic knife once, but my wife basically turned it into an irregular serrated edge.

The fact that Sal is open to working with this non-steel is an amazing development. I might just be a little giddy...

-burly

Posted: **Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:57 pm**

Looks like we have a Mule Team In-the-works.

sal

Posted: **Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:08 am**

sal wrote: ↑
Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:57 pm
Looks like we have a Mule Team In-the-works.

sal

Yeah, man! Way to go, Sal! Thank you!!

Posted: **Tue Jan 18, 2022 1:55 am**

sal wrote: ↑
Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:57 pm

Looks like we have a Mule Team In-the-works.

It's cool that you're gonna play with a new material. After all, whatever materials we're using today will eventually be antiquated and only used by old men who refuse to adapt. As one of that group, I'll admit that a ceramic that holds an edge and can withstand the abuse of a work knife might pique my interest. If I recall correctly, the ceramic is some flavor of zirconium. My dentist can crank out zirconium crowns in his office, and has described to me all the benefits of "ceramic teeth."

Posted: **Tue Jan 18, 2022 3:23 am**

sal wrote: ↑
Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:57 pm
Looks like we have a Mule Team In-the-works.

sal

Fantastic news Sal, thanks for sharing it

I suspect that this Elastic Ceramic Mule could stoke as much interest as the MagnaCut one, please make enough of them so that everybody can get a chance to buy one

Posted: **Tue Jan 18, 2022 4:19 am**

sal wrote: ↑
Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:57 pm
Looks like we have a Mule Team In-the-works.

sal

Thank you Sal and team for making this happen. This news made my day!!!! I feel as if this forum really makes a difference but only because Spyderco is so receptive. Thank you to the other end of this in Switzerland too!

Posted: **Tue Jan 18, 2022 5:04 am**

sal wrote: ↑
Mon Jan 17, 2022 11:57 pm
Looks like we have a Mule Team In-the-works.

sal

That's great! Thank you Sal!

Posted: **Tue Jan 18, 2022 6:33 am**

Wow! You are a miracle worker, Sal!

Posted: **Tue Jan 18, 2022 7:12 am**

Man Down!

I was cooking birthday dinner for my wife last night (shrimp and grits) and my Rahven Shark slid off the counter and chipped the edge of the tip out on the tile floor.

I guess that's a reminder that it's still a ceramic blade. Is there any good way to repair the edge? If this were steel I could cut a new bevel with my diamond stones and some elbow grease, is that an option with this HIC, or is damage like this basically permanent? Maybe put it on a work sharp belt and grind until it looks pretty again?

Posted: **Tue Jan 18, 2022 8:25 am**

Diamond stones should be able to cut it. I've sharpened mine with diamond stones. It will just take a while.

I'm really liking these as low maintenance kitchen knives. I may have to order up some more.

I'm really looking forward to a Mule in this material. I'm not sure it's the thing for a fixed blade, but a small folder in this (Dragonfly? Chaparral?) would be AMAZING.

Posted: **Tue Jan 18, 2022 9:59 am**

Very cool! I am quite interested to see how this performs vs some of our best steels.

Posted: **Tue Jan 18, 2022 12:31 pm**

My diamond DMT plates seem to remove enough material to fix this issue you have.

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